The 12th annual Louisiana Book Festival, a celebration of readers, writers and their books, returns Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in downtown Baton Rouge’s Capitol Park. The festival will feature presentations by local and national bestselling authors, panel discussions, activities for children and teens, live music, food and a Halloween costume contest.

Author presentations include Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris, My Southern Journey by Rick Bragg, Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868 by Cokie Roberts and the children's book Bayou Magic by Coretta Scott King Honor Book-winning Jewell Parker Rhodes.

The One Book, One Festival discussion group selection is Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. The cooking tent includes demonstrations by chefs and cookbook authors such as Cynthia LeJeune Nobles with her A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook.

A variety of writing WordShops are scheduled for the day before the Festival, including a discussion about telling a story in fiction or memoir by authors Molly Antopol and Skip Horack. Detailed descriptions of all WordShops and registration information are available at the Festival website.